Mentors

Mentors

In addition to our Entrepreneurs in Residence, Launch Chapel Hill has a roster of experienced mentors in a wide variety of fields to assist ventures on an as-needed basis.

Tim Flood

Tim Flood teaches several courses on presentation skills, global communication, business writing, U.S. language and culture for international and exchange students, and segments of the Communication, Leadership and Career Management series.

Dr. Flood is the author of MBA Fundamentals: Business Writing (Kaplan Press, 2008). He also edited The Rhetorical Dimensions of Cyberspace with Beth Baldwin (1997).

His research interests include the roles of media and technology in both interpersonal and corporate communication, cross-cultural communication and global business leadership fluency.

He has consulted with the World Bank/IFC and Egyptian Institute of Directors on issues of corporate governance and educational outreach, and has led study trips to businesses in Egypt, Turkey Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.

Prior to joining UNC Kenan-Flagler, Dr. Flood worked as a solutions consultant for Vanguard Cellular Systems (now part of AT&T Wireless)

Dr. Flood received his PhD from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, his MA from Texas A&M University and his BA from the University of Maryland.

Sheryl Waddell

Sheryl Waddell is a Program Director at the University of North Carolina, leading relationship management within Innovate@Carolina. Sheryl also serves as the university liaison to the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network Program, which aims to unlock the economic potential of a region by identifying and networking the area’s successful serial entrepreneurs and linking them to high growth companies.

Sheryl has over 20 years of marketing, operational, and executive management experience working with education, business, and government leaders to design and implement successful programs. She began her career as an entrepreneur, co-founding a wireless data communication company, Padcom, Inc and mentors startups to help them succeed in meeting their goals.

She is co-founder of e51, a women’s entrepreneurial initiative dedicated to building a robust support system for women entrepreneurs at all stages of their careers, including college students. Women are approximately 51% of the population in the US and the name, e51 symbolizes entrepreneurial community powered by women aimed to harness the talent and potential of female entrepreneurs.

Chris mumford

Chris Mumford is the founder of Joe Start Up, a StreetSmart entrepreneurial education website which includes whiteboard animation, easy-to-use start up plan builder and social network. During the last 15 years, Mumford founded several businesses in the US and Asia. He served in roles as CEO, CFO, COO, VP Sales and VP Design while raising over $30 million from angel, VC and private equity for several projects. He was an investment banker for 7 years. His experience includes consumer products, technology, education, and social networks.

He grew up in Chapel Hill NC where he graduated from UNC-CH with a degree in Philosophy with Honors. Mumford has two children with his wife Joelle Permutt. He enjoys competing in triathlons, cycling, fly fishing and coaching. One day, he hopes to finish editing his novel about his experiences wandering around the world.

jim kitchen

Jim started his first business, specializing in group tours to the Caribbean, while attending UNC in the 1980s. After he selling his company to multinational travel conglomerate TUI PLC in 2007, Jim served as the director of TUI Student's Acquisition department, helping to build one of the largest student travel companies in North America. Currently, he is the principal of a commercial real estate business specializing in acquiring apartment complexes, drug stores and other triple-net investments. He received his MBA with honors as Valedictorian at the University of Tennessee.

Having learned some of the most important lessons of his life while sleeping in grass huts in Nicaragua, building rooms and schools in Costa Rica, and visiting remote villages in Africa and Asia, Jim now devotes most of his time and talents to helping others. He stays busy teaching entrepreneurship at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and helps build the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Chapel Hill as an executive board at Launch Chapel Hill and founder of 1789 Venture Lab. An avid runner, having completed over 20 marathons and three ultra-marathons (50 & 100 mile runs). Jim lives in Chapel Hill with his wife and two children.

Jim is an active angel investor, supporting the growth of Triangle’s entrepreneurial community. He has invested in TAP and in number of early-stage startups to help them get off the ground, including Launch ventures ABAN, Friendli and Keona Health.